AFTER a weekend of almost non stop rain it's difficult to take the idea of encouraging householders to install solar panels on their homes with much seriousness.

But the idea is serious - and it works - and just over the Lancashire/Yorkshire border in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, Calderdale Council has been running a scheme where people have been awarded grants of £700 to help cover the cost of having a solar panel installed.

It's important for all our futures that we do everything we can to make maximum use of renewable energy resources quite simply to protect future generations from pollution and running out of the raw materials we have on this planet.

And it makes sense that if this scheme is working successfully in an area with the same climate as ours, it should be looked at very closely as Lancashire County Council's only Green Party candidate suggests.

It is also encouraging to hear that the council is looking at a system which will allow water to be heated in schools and educational buildings by using solar power.

There is little enough cash in education as it is, and the idea of saving money as well as energy by harnessing solar power for schools is something that has to be explored and put into use.

The application in schools will also enable teachers to give illustrated explanations to pupils of how the sun's rays can be used to heat the water that comes out of the building's taps.

When the subject was raised, however, councillors expressed reservations because they suggested that solar panels could be an ideal target for the vandals who constantly try to burn down or break into school buildings.

This misses the point.

We must stop vandals in the first place and not be deterred from innovation for fear of what they might do. Any other course of action means we have given in to the wreckers.